Luminosity
by MatchaMilkTea
Summary: When Murasakibara Atsushi meets an aspiring culinary student, the first thing he thinks about are the sweets she'll make for him. It's a good thing she has the patience (although not as much time, admittedly) to do so.


Murasakibara let out a bored sigh and shoved a handful of potato chips into his mouth. He had no idea why Kuroko had dragged him here, all the phantom player had said was a quick greeting before asking him to go to some school with no explanation whatsoever. When the purple-haired giant had asked where they were going, Kuroko had only replied with a slight smile and shake of his head.

"Murasakibara," Kuroko finally said, his voice almost lost to the sound of chips crunching in between the said giant's teeth. "We're here."  
Murasakibara swallowed and willed himself to not shovel more of his many snacks into the abyss that was his mouth. "Finally. Kuroko, what is this place, anyways? Why'd you have to drag me here, eh?" The college student was irritated at being left in the dark, and was contemplating just walking back if not put in the loop soon.  
"You'll see. Please wait just a couple of minutes longer, Murasakibara. I promise I'll make the wait up to you soon." At the short man's words, Murasakibara pouted. When Kuroko started walking up a flight of stairs, the basketball player took a short moment to stick multiple strawberry pocky into his mouth to give himself something to focus on before complying.

The duo passed by multiple small buildings, cherry trees blooming along the path. Students all around them flowed in and out of the buildings, their chatter ringing in Murasakibara's ears. When Kuroko suddenly halted, the giant assumed they had arrived to their destination.  
The building was brick and white, and short, although very long. The closer Murasakibara got to it, the more the scents of spices and breads filled the air, causing him to chow down more snacks than usual. When they entered, Kuroko guided the purple-haired man through multiple hallways and doors, only to stop at one at the very end of the top floor's corridor.

"Eh, Kuroko, this is it, right?" Like a child, Murasakibara was getting impatient, and pouted again, this time out of irritation rather than boredom.  
Kuroko gave him a small nod, and turned his head towards him slightly. "Can you guess why we're here, Murasakibara?" When the giant replied with nothing but the slight raise of the brow and the death of yet another corn puff, the phantom player opened the door, revealing multiple people baking any treat anyone could bake. They all seemed to be doing different things individually, indicating that it was most likely for practice, or for a club instead of a class.

"I'm here to pick up a cake from an acquaintance." And with that, Kuroko trotted over to the other side of the room, prompting Murasakibara to follow.  
 _Cake?_ thought Murasakibara, _then why'd he have to drag me along?_ He looked over at his old teammate and sighed. All he knew was he'd better get a large slice of that cake after the visit.

When he caught up with Kuroko, he was talking to a girl in an apron. "Oh!" The girl looked away from the turquoise-haired man and let her eyes rest of Murasakibara. "Hello. You must be here to pick up the cake, too, then?" She flashed him a smile. "Here, you two, let me go get for you." She walked away, her auburn hair bouncing in it's bun.  
"Ne, Kuroko. Why'd you have to take me to get a cake? There'd better be a reason for it, you know."

Kuroko blinked once, then tilted his head to the side. "I thought you liked cake, so I decided to bring you along to get one for Momoi's birthday."  
Murasakibara's eye twitched, and he was about to answer in an angry fashion when the girl from before cut in in a soft tone.

"Excuse me," she started, obviously feeling awkward about interrupting the two basketball player's conversation, "but I have your cake. I would have waited to say so, but it was getting heavy and the counters are all dirty..." She laughed awkwardly, closing her brown eyes.

"No, it's okay," Kuroko reassured, causing the girl to jolt up slightly due to his distinct lack of presence. "I'm just grateful that you took the time to make this for me." The girl blushed slightly at his comment, embarrassed.

Murasakibara blinked at her, then looked at the cake. It was adorable, a two-tier, pastel pink colored cake with the words 'Happy Birthday, Momoi!' drawn onto there with what looked like white chocolate. "You made this?" He asked.  
The girl bit her lip, then nodded quickly. "U-uh, yeah. I know it's not the best, but I hope your friend will like it," she said, letting a smile grace her lips. Kuroko inclined his head.

"Mei. I'm positive she will." He looked down at his watch, and let a small frown appear on his face. "I'm sorry. I have to get going if I'm going to get to class on time." The phantom player glanced at Murasakibara. "I hope you know the way out?" After a quick confirmation, he turned back to Mei. "Thank you again."  
Once Kuroko left with the cake in hand, Murasakibara turned towards the auburn haired girl. "Can you do that again?" He inquired, only one thing on his mind, only one thing clouding his thoughts.

"Do what again, exactly?" The woman tilted her head, having to look up to meet the giant's eyes. She patted her hands on her blue apron, flour marking it as she did so.  
Murasakibara gestured to the oven that was nearby, "I mean," he explained, anticipating her answer, "can you make another cake?" The cake Mei had made for Momoi was delicious looking, and it's aroma made Murasakibara want to drool. It was only natural he would want one for himself, especially with him being who he is.

Mei's brown eyes widened. "Oh! Uh, sure, I guess I could? I mean, I suppose it would be good practice, but it might take a while, and you would have to pick it up yourself. So, if you're cool with that, then yeah..."

The purple-haired giant nodded. "Yeah, I would," he said, opening another pack of chips, "just get Kuroko to tell me when it's done." He shoveled them in.  
The baker nodded. "Okay, then! Uh- I will!"

Murasakibara nodded a second time and checked the time on his phone. "Eh. Ne, I have to get going now. Bye." And with that, the giant stalked off.

"Ah! Goodbye!"

* * *

That was the first time they met.

* * *

 **Okay, first of all: Don't you just _love_ Murasakibara? **

**Second of all, this story is also on Quotev. I hope you enjoyed! I'll try to update once a week. My formatting's probably really wonky, though I'll try and fix it the best I can as I become more accustomed to the site.**

 **Third of all: fun fact, this is a reader-insert of Quotev. Everything is the exact same except for descriptions of 'Mei'.**


End file.
